And those 1.16 million left their germs and viruses all over the seats, seat-back tray tables, armrests, etc. Don’t worry, though - the virus can only survive only 2 to 3 hours outside the host. Don’t the airlines disinfect every aircraft between flights?
5 day survival on surfaces. Ordinary aircraft cleaning is inadequate.
Unlike SARS, MERS, the common cold, and most other coronaviruses, 2019-nCoV has the ability to encapsulate and has demonstrated survival times of at least 6 days on hard surfaces.
Not only is an infected individual capable of passing on the disease before they develop symptoms, but bodies remain highly contagious long after death.
There is one documented (in the medical journal Lancet) case of an individual infecting 5 others, so R0 is at least 5. The Daily Mail newspaper in London posted a YouTube video earlier today of someone (in full HAZMAT gear) who claimed to be a nurse in Wuhan who stated that the R0 was 14. The Daily Mail translated her remarks to say that there were 90,000 cases in Wuhan, but native Chinese speakers have since confirmed that what she said was 90,000 dead. Your mileage may vary (YMMV).
Since October 1, 2020 when the virus appeared to have crossed over to humans, more that 1.15 million individuals have flown out of Wuhan to other countries.
Comparisons of this virus to the Spanish flu, SARS, MERS, or other well-documented outbreaks are not accurate.
That's not to say that it is Armageddon or the Zombie Apocalypse, just that it is probably worse than any previous coronavirus.